The full extent of child abuse in South Africa is not known, because of a lack of systematic, interdisciplinary research into the nature and extent of the problem.

However, the following statistics give an idea of the extent of child abuse in the country:

• In 1998, Child Protection Units of the South African Police Services and specialised individual officers reported dealing with 37 352 cases of crime against children, an increase of almost 58% since 1994.

• According to the SAPS figures, reported cases of child rape rose from 7 559 to 15 732 during the period 1994 - 1998.

• The SAPS recorded 8 683 cases of reported rape of girls during first six months of 1999 - an average of two per hour.

• The South African National Council for Child and Family Welfare has reported that affiliated Child Welfare Societies dealt with 14 872 new cases of abuse and neglect, and 2 907 newly abandoned babies, during the financial year of 1998 to 1999.

• During the 16-month period, January 1, 2000 to May 4, 2001, the Western Cape Education Department held 70 disciplinary hearings involving sexual misconduct by members of staff. Six of these were charged with rape. Of those charged with rape, five were found guilty. All six have also faced criminal charges.

The accused staff represent about 0,24% of the total number of educators employed by the province (29 000), and about 9,2% of the total number of staff charged with some form of misconduct during this period (762).